The state chronicle. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1883-1893, 1887-05-26
HIGHER EDUCATION.
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A CIVIL
ACADEMY.
A Scholar of Johns ii OpkinS Writes a
Review of Higher Education in the


| A Scholar of Johns ii OpkinS Writes g
Review of Higher Education in the
South.
Especial Cor. STATE CHRoNIcLE.J
In the history of the higher education
| of our country that of the South remains
an unwritten chapter That a native OF
New England should make the first sys-
tematic historical contributions to this
missing part is noteworthy. Professor
Adams has not confined his study to the
college of William and Mary, but in con
nection with the history of that institu-
ton has sketched the genesis and evou-
tion of the higher education in Virginia.
1t is to be hoped that his example will be
followed in the case of the other Southern
States, for the conditions which have
shaped the history of this section Of the
Union cannot be understood without a
thorough knowledge of its educational de-
velOpment.
In 1919 the Virginia Company granted
ten thousand acres of land for the estab-
lshment of a University at Henrico, which
was the first endowment of an American
University. The massacre of superinten-
dent of the University and his assistants
by the Indians in 1929 put an end to this
undertaking. Two years after this plan
was proposed for the erection of Uni
versity buildings on an island in the Sus-
quehanna River near Havre de Grace, the
institution to be called Academia Virgini-
ensis ct Oxoniensis. Owing to the death
of its chief promoter this project failed.
The Colonial Assembly of Virginia, in
1860, passed an act for the establishment
of college and schools. Steps were at
once taken to secure royal and colonial
endowments and this led to the establish
ment of the College of William and Mary
The history OF the College of William
and Mary is valuable and suggestive.
Founded in 1893 by royal grant, it is the
oldest college in the South, and with the
exception of Harvard the oldest in Ameri
ca. For many years it was literally aided
by the colonial and State gov, rnments of
Virginia and it was there that the Virginia
statesmen of the early and formative
period Of our country's history We're edn
Gated. This venerable institution has fallen
upon evil days. During the civil war
nearly all of its property was destroyed
and the greater part of its endowment
swept away. The college which gave
Washington his degree of C vi engineer
and to which, as chancellor. he gavt his
las; public service, the college where JEFF
fer>on, Monroe, Randolph, Marshall and
many other- OF the early fathers Of eur
y
law and politics. Is now closed. OF its
former able faculty only President Ewell
remains and we are told that at the begin
ming of each scholastic year he rings the
old college bell as a reminder that the in
stitution still lives.
Professor Adams says, ''Notwithstand
ing the many and earnest appeals for the
relief Of William and Mary, in spite of the
acknowledged fact th It the destruction of
its property was the wanton act Of undis
ciplIned soldlery, an act contrary to the
u>ages of war, which, even IN the dark
ages, spared churches and schools. no
measure of relief for the college of William
and Mary has ever been passed by the
Congress of these United States.
An Institution which was once a beacon of
learning and of political Intelligence. not
alone for Virginia but for the whole
South and for the country at large, has
been suffered to decline by a nation which
owes it an actual although paltry debt of
so, 00G."
AS before intimated this monograph Is
not desi gned as a special plea for William
and Mary, but its object is rather to dis
cover the historical beginnings of the
higher education in the South and to tlace
its development in the ''Old Dominion. "
In this 'onnection the author explains the
causes Of the early prosperity OF William
and Mary and the reasons for its decline.
Its lelatto ions TO the eisity ideas Of
Washington and Jefferson are stated at
length The motives for the founding of
the University of Virginia are made clear,
and that the higher education may be
adequately promoted, the Necessity for
State aid is shown.
After IA careful study Of this college,
Professor Adams concludes that 1.-The most
practical of all lessons to be derived from
the history of William and Mary is the
possible renaissance in the educational
policy of our States of the original Will
liamsburg idea of a college capital or at
least of higher education in a municipal
rather than in n rural, or even suburban
environment: and the revival of that close
connection between education and good
citizenship which made the College OF
William and Mary a seminary of states
men,"
The necessity for the National promo
ton of the higher political education is
clearly pointed out and the establishment
at Washington of a Civil Academy, where
the practical application of historical and
political science to American politics may
be made. is advocated. Professor Adams
says, The West Point plan Of taking stu
dent appointees from Congressional Dis
trlcfS, ana tne COrnelI l university plan OF
student appointment for merit. should be
| transplanted together to the city of Wash
ington. From each of the three hundred
and twenty five Congressional Districts
there should be appointed by the re>Irc-
tive Congressman. upon competitive ex-
animation held by the State or leading
| University, or some other impartial exam
ining board, one student of the grade of
bachelor of arts, to enjoy government tut
ton IN Washington for two years at a Civil
| Academy, as hereafter described, wi h an
allowance Of 5000 a year for necessary ex-
penses. as is now done for cadets at West
Point and Annapolis" " He further says
that the appointees should be allowed to
| live as citizens in Washington, subject to
no scholastic discipline of the juvenile sort.
To inaugurate the Academy no elaborate
or costly equipment would be required. A
library and lecture rooms would be AL that
is necessary. instruction should be given
in class sections and in public lecture, by
government experts and University special
lists. who might be engaged from ti'ne to
time from different institutions for such
ser> ices. For practical instruction the
students should be assigned duties in the
various government departments and be
held accountable daily for moderate
amount of routine work. Upon the pro
| gress of the student should depend his
and promotion to more advanced practi-